Black Identity
by vixoss
Summary: "I've been assigned to be your bodyguard for 24 hours per day." Is he telling the truth or a lie? If it's the latter he might be a not so harmless stalker. SaixSaku


I've been assigned to be your bodyguard for 24 hours per day."

Is he telling the truth or a lie? If it's the latter he might be a not so harmless stalker. SaixSaku

**Black Identity**

Chapter 1

Ghosts

8 o'clock.

It's too still in the underground for this time. Usually a load of people should be crowding this place, eager to come home from work. High-school students exhausted from a hard day or drolly party should be here too. But in the place is only a pink-haired young girl who attempts to swallow her fear and anxiety.

She never liked empty places.

The only thing she hears is the loud, irritating ticking of the clock on the wall which does nothing but to increase her anxiety-like a sand hour, a sand hour of death. Her jade eyes dart nervously through the abandoned area, passing placards, white stone columns and walls.

-There's nothing.

She sighs out in relief, her racing heart calming down a little. However her newfound peace does not last long as a dark, male voice startles Sakura to the bones, causing her to wipe her head at the intruder.

"You should better listen to your intuition and not get on the train." _'Or else death will be awaiting you.'_

She meets an unfamiliar face which is half-hidden behind the newspaper he's reading. Since when is he here? Wasn't that bench empty before? She hasn't realized him coming, not at all.

Lifting his chin slightly, his obsidian-black eyes gaze tranquilly into hers.

"Find another way to get home." He says calmly, not one trace of concern and worry in his voice.

What for a weirdo, Sakura thinks, ignoring his words as her brain tells her to. How could she have known that he meant it only good for her wellbeing? After all he is a stranger, someone she doesn't know and maybe someone who is dangerous as well. Though he seems so peaceful…

'It's the quiet ones you have to be careful of.' A voice in her mind tells her.

Her thoughts are shattered when a female voice of the loud speaker announces;

"The train will be arriving now. Please stand back and let the passengers get off first."

Quickly she rushes to the train, her footsteps echoing on the metal-ground beneath her, eager to get away from the stranger. Gazing impassively at her fading form, he mutters under his breath, slightly irritated at her behaviour.

"Such a stupid girl." _'You'll regret not having listened to me.'_

He stands up and folds the old newspaper, slamming the dusty piece of paper hard on the bench he was sitting on.

_Time to save her ass._

'_That guy was so creepy_.' Sakura thinks resting her hand on her chest while she stands, gripping the metallic rod so she wouldn't fall. As the nervousness in her system decreases, she casts her eyes through the train.

'_Empty.' _

She does not like that fact, not at all.

The train drives faster, its wheels grazing sharply against the rails, creating fiery sparkles of ember.

Meanwhile Sakura watches the pitch-black surrounding outside, which rushes past her like a dark waterfall, through the window. Her hand rests on the artificial glass that reflects her image and streaks of light. And then her heart skips a beat as it cracks without a warning, a white line grazing the glass diagonally.

But the reason for her shock and terror is another one. A much, much more horrendous one. Wiping sharply around Sakura gasps as she gazes at the decapitated body which is saturated in blood - the same monster she has seen in the window.

And it is making its way towards her, slowly and creepily, a slimy substance dripping from its arms to the floor. Sakura's blood runs cold, fear and panic clutching her icily, paralyzing her entire body. A scream is locked in her throat and only when something slippery, heavy wrapped around her neck; her vocal cords finally worked. Her terrified shriek echoes in the train as her palms grab at the foreign body. Turning her gaze at the window, her eyes widen in pure horror as she sees the reflection of a gigantic octopus in the glass. And the thing that keeps her immobile is the tentacle around her neck.

As the long tentacle tightens her breath is cut off, causing her features to twist and her gaze to fly around for help. To her dismay the only thing she spots are large, horrible-looking spiders which glue to the window, seemingly smirking at her pain if possible.

However that is not Sakura's only problem. The other thing which causes her to panic is the blood-dripping zombie which creeps its way towards her.

'_I'm going to die!' _

Sakura gasps as the tentacle around her neck is suddenly cut off, landing on the floor, twitching vehemently. Ewww. Not a really attractive sight.

A hand grabs her elbow roughly from behind, flinging her on the metal-seats in the train. Sharp pain shot through her spinal cord as her back connects with the hard surface of the seat. She clutches her chest and clenches her eyes tightly, coughing her lungs out violently.

"Stay there." Orders a voice, causing the pastel-haired female to look up. To her astonishment her saviour is no one other than the young man she met at the station before. Flinging out a dangerous knife the dark haired man runs to the octopus and jumps into the air, slicing the livestock into two pieces. Unbelievable what such a small knife can do.

The next one is the zombie in front of the automatic door which panels the wagons.

His dark-twilight eyes gaze passionlessly at the monster before he pulls out a piece of paper from his black trench-coat. With a harsh and swift movement he throws it at the living dead in front of him, the spell-paper hitting the target. The monster hollers in agony as if invisible claws of air are tearing it apart as it vanishes.

Suddenly more of its species materialize several meters before the young man, causing him to smirk. Flinging out more pieces of magic papers, the end of his long trench coat flutters loudly in the air. Then he deprives the law of gravity by running sideways the walls of the train as he throws the spell-papers at the new monsters. All of the three howl horribly as they are hit, vanishing like dust in a hurricane.

A rustle of clothes whistle melodiously in the air as the young man lands smoothly on his feet. Stepping towards the young girl it causes her to stand up, facing him nervously.

"Are you alright?" He asks, his baritone, velvety voice caressing her sensitive ears.

She nods briefly, responding; "Yeah. Thanks for helping me." Despite her grateful words, fear is still haunting her emerald eyes, twinkling evidently.

In a blink the man's personality changes from seemingly nice to insulting, something which catches Sakura quit off guard. She dislikes it.

"Is your stupidity only faked or are you really that dim-witted? Why the fuck didn't you listen to me when I told you not to get on the train? You could've saved me a lot of trouble by doing so." Even though his voice is harsh, accusing there is no anger contorting his handsome face. Perfectly emotionless. Hollow depths of twilight.

Gnawing pensively on her bottom lip, Sakura does not reply at first.

'_Aren't you supposed to say –I- could've saved myself a lot of trouble?'_ Because he meant himself and not her in the first place, it sounded like as if she didn't matter even though it was –her- who was attacked. Tsk, why should she care? However she feels a heavy twinge in her chest as a shard of her soul fragments.

As the man's dusky eyes fall on her marked neck, which is surrounded with a red imprint of a tentacle, he slips into silence. The flesh of her throat looks like as if it was burned by irons, contrasting horribly with the unblemished parts of her ivory neck.

'…' It gives him to think.

_It's partly your fault too because you haven't arrived early. _His conscience remarks as if to blame him but he refuses to take the guilt.

His train of thought remains intact even as Sakura's voice rings in his ears. Her tone is partly whinging but angry and furious nonetheless.

"What did you expect!? We don't know each other; you're just a stranger to me. How could I've known you hadn't any perverted intents when you advised me to find another way home!?"

Of course she has naughty thoughts spinning in her head. For strange reasons all females seem to have a dirty mind when they're around him. Hm. How could he have expected otherwise just because of her innocent appearance? He feels the urge to roll his eyes.

Who said that humans are individuals, different from each other? To him they are all the same just wearing different masks and faces. Those are the only things which distinguish them between each other.

His half-gloved fingers reach out for her neck as he says; "Does it hurt?"

Before his fingertips can touch her, she slaps them away, covering her neck protectively, hostility gleaming in her eyes. She hates it when someone touches her neck; it's a vulnerable spot of hers.

"Don't touch me!" She says wrathfully. That idiot, of course it hurts.

He says nothing. Keeping silent, he just stares impassively at her. He puts his hands into his pockets, he demands;

"Get off at the next station."

She glares slightly. "I was planning to do so anyway."

A bit later the train stops and Sakura gets off like she had said, oblivious to the fact she is followed again.

Stretching her tense arms tiredly Sakura walks through the dim streets of Tokyo. Colourful, rainbow lights flicker, illuminating the dark quiet area in yellow, blue, red, green and other colours.

The modern buildings are high and elegant, hiding in the shadows of the night. No moon and no star glitter in the velvet, midnight sky. Everything is, not even a whistle haunts the air. Sakura doesn't care; she is to tired and worn-off to do so. The unrealistic, illusionary even is still in her mind. She isn't going to tell anyone and beside who would believe her anyway? And even if someone does, no one would care enough for her to help her.

Their opinion of her would just drop even lower; they would think she has lost it completely, having turned into a psycho. Really the last thing she needs.

About then minutes later she arrive her decent apartment and opens the door, stepping inside. She's about to remove her boots when a treacherous sound permeates the air, s ignalling that someone else is in the room. The fine hairs on her nape rise and her blood runs cold, her heart pounding against her chest. _Thump. Thump. Thump._

Fear attacks her mind and she swallows the lump in her throat, asking frightfully

"Who is there?"

Listening to her words the intruder steps out of the shadows, his face illuminated by the silver moonlight that shines through the window.

Sakura gasps, her apple-green eyes wide with surprise as she recognizes the soft but emotion-lacking features of his face. His skin is palely white like a blank page of unwritten paper and his inky eyes are beautiful, matching the shadows perfectly.

"You?" Her tone is utterly astonished.

"Aren't you going to offer your guest some tea? How rude. "

He comments dryly, though he doesn't seem serious. No, he isn't.

'_You're the one to talk.'_Remembering his discourtesy when he spoke to her in the train, anger blubbers in her chest. She can't believe it, that guy had followed her home and made fun of her on the top.

"Clear off." She orders in a tone that leaves no room for contradictions, pointing at the door behind her.

However the black-haired man crosses his arms, merely rolling his eyes as he spits;

"Ungrateful brat. Be thankful I saved your life."

His words fuel her fury like a piece of coal in a fire.

"So just because you helped me, you think you can quarter yourself with me now? Besides what the hell were you thinking by stalking me? You do know I can charge because of that."

"Tsk. Don't flatter yourself. Who the heck would want to stalk a freak as hideous as you? I bet if you attended to an ugliness contest everybody would vote for you. Sorry to disappoint you, but the only reason I followed you is because, I have been ordered to keep an eye on you for 24 hours per day."

The colour drains from Sakura's face, shock vibrating in her stuttering voice

"W-what?" She can't believe her own ears.

He sighs exaggeratedly, rubbing his temple as if trying to soothe a throbbing headache.

"Do you have some hearing problems as well? I said I've to live under the same roof with you from now on. "

Is that a grotesquely bad joke or what? Or is he really a stalker? Yeah definitely the latter. She would have to phone the police for help. But if he really is a stalker how comes he saved her in the train? The event certainly wasn't a daydream; the things aren't adding together.

"What does that mean?" She asks confusedly, wanting to know what's going on.

"Isn't it obvious? I've been assigned to be your bodyguard."

**Black Identity**

**Chapter 2**

**Sakura's Shishou**

Assigned as her bodyguard?!

"You're kidding, right?" Sakura's eyes nearly bulge from her sockets in shock and bewilderment.

Instead of responding to Sakura's outburst the mysterious man reaches into his coat pocket and places a piece of white paper between his fore and middle fingers, he tosses the picture at Sakura who quickly catches it.

"Not bad" he whispers and raises a dark eyebrow.

Not every female can catch an object without any obvious difficulties. Most of them are either too clumsy or slow, even though he is somewhat impressed with Sakura, he doesn't show it.

Sakura's gaze falls on the female displayed on the photo, which was tossed at her. The woman on the picture has long braided hair, almond-brown eyes and her voluptuous body is clad in a kimono-like sleeveless shirt. With her perfect peachy skin, full rose colored lips and obvious attractive features she is without a doubt a gorgeous woman. However because the assertive and extremely strict expression on her face it gives impression that she has a great amount of experience at something that needs authority and power, the woman seems very familiar.

Sakura feels that she _has_ to show respect for this woman. Why?

"Do you believe me now?" The man's voice rips her out of her thoughts, reminding her of his presence.

The petal-haired girl looks up, a puzzled expression crossing her face. Though there is a strange feeling at the back of her head, making her believe that she has a vague idea of what's going on.

"Who is she?"

At her ignorance the black-eyed man's eyebrows furrow as he becomes more annoyed with her little game. "Don't play dumb. Don't you recognize your own teacher?"

"Who? You mean her? I don't know what you're talking about."

A sigh escapes his lips and a hand runs through his hair as he mutters under his breath, frustration and disappointment sharpening his quiet tone.

"Her concern for your well being is a waste of time."

'_The price is not a matter that I am concerned with. In return I expect you to guard her well, she is someone very precious to me.'_ A flash of memories rushes through his mind, the blonde woman's commanding voice replaying in his ears.

Despite the softness of the man's voice Sakura heard every word that he had spoken. She decided to take a second glance at the picture and a strange sense of familiarity and fondness washes over her, as if she has known that woman for quite a long time.

But that couldn't be.

Sakura has been living alone since she was been fourteen.

"She's your shishou, from what I've heard you were her apprentice and her favorite one too." His words don't reach Sakura's numb ears, she had already slipped into her own world, into the dark abyss of her mind searching for a memory.

However his next words do break her out of her reverie, shattering the temporary silence that settled between them in the room.

"Can I rest on the couch?" he asks, referring to the dark-colored furniture next to the wall.

"What? I have never allowed you to stay, I don't want a beggar staying in my house."

Her rambling is quickly cut off when a bundle of green bills lands at her feet. Kneeling down she picks it up and is shocked at the amount of money. With that she could buy enough food that would last at least for one month! A frown forms on her features as she slips the photo into her pocket, because for some odd reason she wants to keep it.

"That should ease you doubts. You can consider it as rent, and just to clear a few things; I'm not a beggar... I have a part-time job beside my regular occupation." He states calmly and without any words he hurls himself onto the black-couch, his trench coat cascading beneath him. Placing his arms under his head for support, he soon closes his eyes allowing sleep take over him. But the shrill and irritating voice of his charge prevents him from doing so.

"Hey! Who said you could sleep here. I've never agreed."

Angrily she stomps toward the comfortably laying man on the couch and throws the money forcefully on his chest. "And I don't want your money either! Get the hell out!"

One eye blinks open, and he silently taunts her with his actions "Or what?"

"I'll call the police, for example!"

"Hn, as expected humans are such weak and pathetic creatures. Always depending on others instead of themselves." His voice is a cold and patronizing.

'_Humans are so ridiculous; they can never rely on themselves, they call it comradeship, but I call it weakness.' _The mocking voice of his master echoes in his ears.

The man's harsh words make her freeze and she sucks in for breath, her eyes widening as shock spreads through her body. Her shoulders hunch slightly as her body trembles evidently.

'_Weak… pathetic …' _An echo of different voices run through her ears as a hurricane of emotions crash onto her.

The dark-haired man doesn't notice her inner turmoil as he continues his little 'chat'

"Listen Sakura-san I'm not here to harm you. I should have proven my integrity already when I saved you in the train. If you want I could always leave at your wish, but who is going to protect you from the dangers which are not from this world?"

His words make her think and she debates with herself whether to believe him and let him stay or not, she rakes through her mind for a cancellation and decides for the latter. After all he -did- saved her once and well there are things happening to her that can't be defined as normal. So it wouldn't be bad to have someone to guard her.

But deep inside her she knows that the real reason why she let him stay is because she wants to see someone other than her own shadow in her apartment. -She wants to have someone besides herself.

Loneliness causes one to make irrational decisions and it forms bonds, but if they can be trusted is another question…

Slowly she lifts her head and gazes into his shadowy eyes; "Ok fine…But tell me one thing; how do you know my name? I don't recall having ever told you." And to her distress it's not the only thing he knows about her.

"Haruno Sakura. Blood Type O. Birthday: March 28. Height: 151.1 cm. Weight: 35.9kg.

Likes: Sweets, shopping, and soft toys

Dislikes: Spicy food, long-winded books, and math.

Hn… seems to be a subject that is detested by most females.

You've moved to Tokyo at the age of fourteen, living on your own since then.

Only an amateur wouldn't know the documentation of the client."

Sakura is fascinated for a moment, but extremely surprised of how much the odd man knows about her. A bad feeling develops in her body, fear overtaking her senses. _What if he is actually a stalker?_

Dismissing the thought, she shakes it off.

"Well I am im-"

"I know you're overwhelmed. God has blessed with me with beauty and brains, two things you've been deprived off sadly."

A vein twitches on her temple, as the urge to throw a punch at his face takes over her. Suppressing the flaming anger that pulsated through her veins. She closed her eyes, smiling a forced twitchy smile. "Whatever you say. At last tell me your name." She demands instead of replying with a foul comeback.

"Sai."

"What about your surname?"

The raven-haired man's eyes close as he inhales calmly, his chest rising and sinking as he does so.

"I don't have one." Another lost soul, without a last name you belong to nobody.

The lighthearted atmospheres drops, turning into a dull and frostbitten silence, which settles in the moonlit room which is cast in several shades of a midnight blue.

The petal-haired female turns around, her back facing him as she walks towards the door. But then she halts and lowers her gaze, pink hair cascading over her shoulders.

In a quiet voice she speaks into the dark; "And what if I prove myself to be a threat?" _For you…_

Maybe she could drive him away with her threat, because suddenly it isn't so inviting anymore to live under the same roof with him. They are too similar in a way…

Sai notices the underlying warning in her tone, she's trying to threaten and intimidate him. As if she could be a danger to him.

His voice is frighteningly soft and cold as he says calmly.

"_You won't be able to do anything."_

It's nearly a whisper.

She freezes as his words penetrate her mind and heart, rupturing her psychologically.

_You'll always be helpless. You'll always be unable to do anything._

Her heart throbs agonizingly against her chest, but Sakura ignores the pain and walks wordlessly out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

One of Sai's shadowy eyes open, following her retreating figure. She is hurt and he doesn't know why.

beep. BeePPP . BBEEEPPPP

The continuous beeping of a red alarm clock echoes in Sakura's bedroom, unable to wake her from her slumber. The bright, warm sunlight enters her room through the open window, falling onto the white walls.

Despite the loudness of the alarm clock Sakura doesn't even stir; it's no wonder, she has always been a heavy sleeper and definitely _not_ a morning person.

Hugging her soft pillow tightly, a giggle leaves her throat. Burying her face into the pillow cutely and fondly, a murmur which sounds like 'Strawberry-cake' emits from her lips.

But the happy smile is quickly wiped off her face when a splash of water hits her face, pushing her brutally off cloud nine as her favorite dream crumbles to pieces.

Fiery eyes snap open and a glass-breaking, hysterical scream emanates from her mouth.

How dare that bastard!

Her short pink tresses are drenched and dripping, her face utterly wet. Clenching her fists tightly she glares furiously at her 'attacker' who is no one other than her -so called bodyguard. "SAI! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Chill down, banshee." He says calmly, placing the glass, next to her green futon.

"I just tried to help you to wake up."

Sakura is about to slap him senseless for using such a lame excuse to terrorize her, but his next comment makes her blush madly, stopping her efficiently from doing so.

"Now really don't you have a sense of fashion? The white underwear of yours doesn't bring you hair out." His eyes trail up and down her lithe body shamelessly.

"The color you should wear is black."

Sakura looks at herself, absolutely shocked when she realizes she's only wearing a pair of white panties, a long-sleeved pajama shirt -without any can see easily see the cleavage of her full and slightly compressed milky breasts clearly. A shriek erupts from her throat as she dashes into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her shut.

An amused smirk curves on Sai's lips as he watches her, his gaze lingering on the locked door. Now that was interesting.

_I'm so going to kill that bastard_; she screams inwardly in her head, boiling with fury and embarrassment. However murder will have to wait after school.

But he's so going to get it, Sakura promises silently and twists the metallic faucet on, a splash of water hitting the porcelain washbasin. Then she performs her morning ritual, which contains teeth brushing, face washing and showering. As she's finished she steps out off the shower, her body dressed in a modest white towel, hot steam gathering at the ceiling the time the glass-door opened.

Walking in front of the mirror, she takes a can of ointment and applies a bit of the cool substance on her still red neck.

She's finished and it's time for school, or rather time for hell. It takes one second for the petal-haired girl to choose the latter.

Strangely school is flying by quite quickly and a large smile glows on Sakura's face as she rushes to her favorite sweet-store. Some people walk by the building and some enter to buy a bit, untroubled by the cars that race rapidly by.

As Sakura arrives, she crouches down, resting her hands on her light-blue school-skirt as she stares happily at the desserts. Behind the blue-curtained windows are mochis; a type of Japanese rice cakes, dangos- sweet and sticky balls of rice and flour on a spit, and natto a red bean paste.

All dishes are in different colors and flavors, such a large variety. She must be in heaven.

But her delight is destroyed quickly as a taunting voice creeps into her ear. An unpleasant shiver crawls down her back; she knows the malevolent voice too well.

"Look, look who do we've here? Hello Haruno." The female voice brims with sarcasm and as Sakura doesn't turn around to face her, she continues.

"I've always thought that mentally deranged people don't make good street hookers, but _you_ are certainly an exception. No offense, Haruno, really."

Sakura's shoulders twitch in irritation as she stands up, facing the vile gaze of her classmates. "What do you want Naomi" She asks, her tone and expression flat with annoyance.

The teenager in front of her has blonde hair, tied into two pigtails and a pair of yellow-green eyes, wearing the same school uniform as Sakura. A dark blue sweater with a white polo shirt beneath, an aqua blue skirt hugging her hips.

Beside the blonde are two other girls with raven black hair also Sakura's tormentors, who enjoy making her life hell as well.

Naomi scrutinizes the pink-haired female before her, her mind swirling with disgust and hatred. An abnormal hair color, ugly eyes and sickly pale skin to compliment an anorexic body. -Though it's a little exaggerated, since her ribs aren't poking out and her legs aren't tooth-picks.

But there's no doubt that Sakura is an abnormality.

So why are the gazes of the people still falling on her whenever she walks into a room?

Abnormalities aren't supposed to get attention. They are supposed to be excluded off society since they will never fit in.

_It should be Naomi who gets all the observance…_

Anger nibbles at her chest as she almost shouts; "You slut don't deny! Everybody knows you're teacher's pet, sucking his dick whenever you ca-"

Her rotten affronts are cut off suddenly when a deep and smooth voice intervenes.

"Watch who you're insulting."

Out of nowhere a muscular arm wraps around Sakura's shoulder, pulling her against a hard chest. Sakura it startled a bit and looks up, her jewel green eyes widening as she sees who her rescuer is. It's no one other than Sai…

Because he's one head taller than her she gets only a view of his strong chin, unable to look into his dark eyes. Today he isn't dressed in his black trench coat but in simple swarthy shirt and dark pants.

"I don't go easy on bitches who bad mouth my girlfriend."

"Sai, what are you-" Her sentence is cut off when he bends down, whispering into the candy-haired girl's ear.

"Play along if you want your peace." His hot breath envelops her skin seductively, sending a shiver down her spine, making her legs tremble weakly. To Sakura's surprise it feels strangely pleasant, almost pleasurable.

Meanwhile Naomi and her two friends are turning green with envy. Why do the freaks always get the hunks? Their gazes are electrifying with female fury however the blonde's voice becomes sickly sweet and soft as she coaxes; "There must be a misunderstanding. We're just joking around, right Sakura-_chan_?"

His gaze narrows, Sai isn't fooled. "It didn't look like a joke to me."

Inky eyes darken dangerously as he warns; his tone razor-sharp, cutting through the air.

"Bother her again and i'll smash every single bone in your bodies the next time, and believe me I'm not afraid to hit a girl, especially your kind."

The girls pale visibly at his threat, cowering like frightened little mice, before hurrying away as if a madman was at their trail. Though they actually don't even have a reason to be afraid, because the raven-haired man has never hit a woman before, expect for the female enemies, however that couldn't have been termed as 'hitting'. They 'fought' is the right word.

Sai is surprised at himself since he has never been the type of guy who is apparently intimidating; everyone including his master/trainer claims corner of his lips curve in an amused smirk.

Then as he turns to face Sakura astonishment hits him as he finds the spot where she had stood was empty. A growl escapes from his throat and follows her, not taking long to catch up with her.

"You know you could've at last thanked me." He remarks.

"I didn't need your help!." Sakura says irritated.

"Is that so? It didn't seem like they would've left you alone if I hadn't interfered." His hands are resting casually in his pockets as he walked beside her.

"Mind you own business; I can perfectly take care of myself." _I'm not weak._

"Believe what you want. But you can't prove anyone otherwise."

'_No one cares if I can protect myself or not.' _Her pink bangs blur her vision as she lowers her gaze, sinking into despondent and bitter thoughts.

'_It doesn't matter because I'm really abnormal. There are things I…'_

"Ne, Sai…" The bubblegum-haired girl says quietly, her eyes glazed as if she's in a fantasy-like world. Slowly she stops in her tracks, her hollow, quiet steps fading into completely silent ones.

"What is it?" One eyebrow rises in curiosity and interest as the young man glanced at the jade-eyed beauty. Why does she suddenly sound so sad?

"Why do you think people hate others who are different from them?"

Her question catches him off guard. "Why are you asking?"

"Just answer me."

Sakura's head turns around to face her companion's gaze, but his hazy eyes are locked on the pavement, his hands gripping his belt.

"People are either scared or disturbed because of the ones who are different from the norm."

'_YOU MONSTER GO AWAY! CAN'T YOU SEE YOU'RE UNWELCOMED HERE! __DISAPPEAR!' _

Onyx eyes cloud nebulously as the yelling of past voices mix in his head, ringing painfully in his ears.

Then he lifts his chin slowly, meeting the girl's emerald gaze as he continues;

"There are several reasons. But I think the main one is because people loathe others who are disparate from the crowd."

'_So I'm disparate…?' _Sakura asks herself grievously and piteously.

"But we can't help it but to be ourselves and… I think it's for the best."

This brings a smile on Sakura's lips.

"Yeah, you're right. I feel a little better now." _We can't help it but to be ourselves._

"Huh?" Did he miss something?

"Nothing. Come on."

The gray, busy streets of the city along with all the noises end behind them and the rose-haired girl walks toward the lush, green park full of trees, bushes and colorful, pretty flowers. And her bodyguard follows her wordlessly -like he always does.

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